She was wearing a green shirt and her hair was shorter than her latest photo on her social media accounts. Nasa likuran niya naman ang teammates niya at napaatras ako nang makita ko si Brian, isa sa pinakasikat na writers sa site. His presence was quite intimidating, maybe because of his sturdy physique and expressionless face.

“Challengers, here’s your second challenge for this day,” the staff announced.

Nasa pavilion siya at pumunta naman kaming lahat sa harapan niya. The atmosphere was still awkward but it wasn’t as bad as before. Maybe we were slowly getting familiar with each other.

“Second challenge, huh? Ilang challenge kaya bawat araw?” one of the writers on my right side muttered. I glanced at her direction but I didn’t recognize her face.

She explained the mechanics and it was simpler than the first challenge. We just need to find four balls, the size of an egg, with the same color as our team’s shirt. After that, we should arrange the thing inside the balls and write the answer on the big white board in the pavilion.

“The three fastest teams will have an advantage later on and the last three will receive a punishment. Good luck, Challengers! All the best!”

I tried finding the balls in the shrubs and there were other members of other teams who was doing the same when all of a sudden, Feliz, member of gray team, yelled excitedly. Napatingin kaming mga malapit sa kanya at napanganga na lang ako nang makita kong hawak na niya ang isang gray ball.

“Found it!” she beamed and she immediately put it inside her front pocket.

Lalo lang akong nahiya at nainis dahil sa tanong niya. Dahil hindi agad ako nakasagot ay mukhang alam na niya ang ibig sabihin no’n. When I looked at him, he had this smug look on his face and I was sure that he was mocking me.

“Ah. I guess you’re not good at finding things,” he said with that irritating smirk pasted on his face.

“A-as if. I’m just . . .” My voice faltered. Wala akong madahilan.

“Well then, good luck.”

Tumalikod naman siya sa akin at sinamaan ko ng tingin ang likod niya. Seriously, how did he manage to find two in a short period of time?

Nagmadali kami papunta sa pavilion at pagdating namin ay nandoon na ang green team. We immediately presented the four pink balls to the staff and when she nodded, we sat on the floor and opened all of them.

than

to obtain what they desire

men go to far greater lengths

to avoid what they fear

Those were the words written on the paper inside the balls. I was reading the words in my mind when I remembered that book. Those phrases finally made sense.

Men go to far greater lengths to avoid what they fear than to obtain what they desire.

After that, tumingin kami sa staff at ngumiti siya sa akin. “If you know where the line was from and the book’s author, I will give you an extra point,” sabi niya kaya mabilis kong nilagay ang libro at author.

Inulit naman niya ang sinabi sa kanya ng staff. According to him, the tokens could be exchange for food, information, clues or even another advantage, depending on the situation and the amount.

“Oh, ayos ah,” Arin commented.

Sa ngayon, meron kaming dalawang bronze at dalawang silver na kasama kanina sa envelope na binigay sa amin bago makapasok dito. A silver coin was added after finishing the challenge at second place and another silver coin for the extra point we received a while ago.

“I guess the goal is to collect tokens every challenge and use it to our advantage,” dagdag ni Zion habang tino-toss niya ang isang bronze token.

I didn’t know that she also accepted this show’s invitation. I was following her on her social media accounts and she seemed to be an introvert like me. I wanted to say hi because I read one of her works and liked it. Ang hirap nga lang dahil nahihiya akong lapitan siya.